I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mailboxes, and more particularly relates to mailboxes designed to prevent the theft of mail therefrom.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Mailboxes have long been provided in simple constructions. The conventional mailbox in the United States comprises a horizontally elongated mailbox portion having a door placed pivotably at the front or open end of the box. The door includes a latch or a handle for grasping of the door for opening and closing. Known boxes conventionally are fittable onto mounting posts or mailbox supports. While such mailboxes are practical for many mail recipients, these boxes do pose certain disadvantages.
Among the disadvantages commonly associated with conventional mailboxes is the important disadvantage that conventional mailboxes offer virtually no method of preventing theft of mail therefrom. The door on the front of the mailbox is openable and closeable without a lock, to thereby permit the mail person to insert mail therein. Naturally, it is unreasonable to suggest putting locks on conventional mailboxes in that such locks would require the mail person to carry a different key for every box on his or her mail route.
It is conceivable that a conventional mailbox could be locked by the mailbox owner and a slot could be cut into the door of the box to allow insertion of mail therethrough. However, this solution is ultimately undesirable in that only flat mail could be inserted, and even then only mail of a specific envelope size. Accordingly, the insertion of other articles which are commonly transported through the mail such as small boxes or large envelopes would be frustrated by this approach to preventing mail thief.
Certain elaborate schemes have been devised for the prevention of theft of mail from a mailbox. The most common such box is the conventional U.S. post box into which is placed the mail of the mailer for storage until the post office has the opportunity to pick up the mail at a fixed pick-up time. This construction allows for the user to open the mail door, place the mail therein, and close the door having the mail fall deep inside of the mailbox. However, such boxes are far too bulky for use by the general consumer.
Other elaborate schemes are known for securely keeping delivered mail. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,344, issued to Earle and entitled "Secured Mailbox", a mailbox is closed in a way which is more or less similar to the U.S. post box in that a handle is pulled, the mail is placed upon the inner portion of the handle, the handle is released and the mall falls inside the mailbox. However, such mailboxes are overly cumbersome and are not fittable onto conventional mailbox posts. This latter requirement is important because a mailbox post is conventionally placed into the ground and is anchored in place by cement which forms a more or less permanent anchor. If one were to replace a conventional mailbox with a security mailbox according to the invention of Earle, an entirely different mailbox post will be required, thus virtually making such mailbox use impractical.
Accordingly, the problem of providing a theft-preventive mailbox which provides both security and convenience of installation for the user remains unsolved as prior inventions have failed to eliminate the problems commonly associated with known mailboxes.